Thursday, November 29, 2018

Happy Thankful Thursday! I've been trying to go in order with my photos and posts. But, I am behind a little. We had our first snow on Nov 15th. It seems early for snow, we did not measure the snow but it looked close to 6 inches of the cold wet white stuff. I am not a snow or winter lover, I would be happy never to see snow again. Here are some of my photos taken that day and birds seen during the week of Nov 12th through Nov 17th.

Nov 12th, the male Purple Finch comes and goes, not seen every day but still often.

Nov 14th, the Blue Jays stop by looking for peanuts.

Nov 14th, the Red-breasted Nuthatches are being seen every day.

For Skywatch , I have my snowy skies.

Nov 15th our first snow, accumulation was around 6 inches. Our yard ends behind the tall pine trees and the woods off to the far right are part of the reservoir's watershed.

Nov 15th, the male Northern Cardinal looks pretty in the snow.

Nov 15th, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has been showing up more often lately.

As are all the other photos, this was taken from my dining room window. I did go out and make a path around the deck to my bird feeders a few times, it seemed as soon as I came back inside the deck was covered again.

Nov 17th , a female Purple Finch with a view of the back side of a White-throated Sparrow.

Nov 17th, my fist sighting of a Pine Siskin on our messy deck. The wind and snow storm had the seeds going all over the place.

Nov 17th, I heard some banging on our front den window, I went to look and found the Screech Owl flying into the window, it did it a few times and then went and sat on another branch and just stared. I am thrilled the Screech Owl has been seen in our front yard for over a month now. But, at this point I kind of wish it would move on before it hurts itself flying into our window.

I am thankful our first snow melted quickly, our house was warm and our electric stayed on. A thankful heart is a happy heart. I am thankful for all your visits and comments. Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. Thank you to the hosts of Skywatch Friday

Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Monday, November 26, 2018

Hello and happy Monday!From Nov 11th, I am sharing a walk hubby and I took on one of the local fire roads. This is just a short drive to another part of our lake. The fire road heads to the lake and has a view of a Bald Eagle Nest. Hubby and I wanted to see if the Bald Eagle couple was active and if they are visiting their nest from last year. We did not see the Eagles but I did get to see a large flock of Buffleheads on the lake. We had a nice walk with temps in the 40's. A little colder than I like for my walks, but the wimp that I am... I managed.

I tried to zoom in on this flock of Buffleheads, they are too far away and fuzzy.

The tree with the red leaves in the middle of the photo is where the Bald eagle's nest is, way across the lake.

I zoomed in to see a closer look at the Bald Eagle nest, we did not see any Eagles.

Pretty sunlight on the lake.

We saw a lot of berries along the trail. They are pretty pops of red color.

There were plenty of red berries growing on vines climbing up the tall trees. I hope the birds enjoy these berries.

Thanks to Yogi and the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!I hope to see you there. Thanks to the hosts today. Enjoy your day and new week.As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Welcome to Saturday's Critters !If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!I still have some more birds we saw at the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR in New Jersey. Birds seen were the male and female Wood Ducks, House Finch, Clapper Rail and we saw a large flock of Brant Geese, Mallards, American Black Ducks, Brant Goose, Great Blue Heron, The male wood duck is a beauty!

This looks like the female wood duck below.

A male House Finch.

You really have to look for the 2 Great Blue Herons chasing each other in this photo below. The tree colors are beautiful.

Pretty sure this is the Clapper Rail, another great reason to be at the refuge during low tide. These secretive birds come out into the open looking for things to eat in the mud.

Sorry, my photos of the Brant Geese are not the best. They were too far away, I wanted record a photo to show I did see them this day.

I am not sure about this Sparrow, possibly a SeasideSparrow? I do see a little line of yellow above the eyes. Any help is appreciated.

This Great Blue Heron had a fishing spot all to himself until these ducks came by and would not leave. They swam up and down in front of the Heron. They were Mallards and some Black Ducks.

Lots of shorebirds, I am guessing Dunlin and maybe some Plovers? The taller birds could possibly Black-bellied Plovers?

Below Eastern Box Turtles and Praying Mantis. I went years without seeing a Praying Mantis, on this day I saw two Mantis right on the path to the visitor center.

I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments !

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Hello,I hope everyone in the USA has a Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for my family, food on the table and a warm house. I think about those in California who have lost family members, their homes and all their belongings. My prayers go out to the fire victims and to the firefighters. Recently hubby and I had a lot of shopping to do, but we wanted to do a walk too while the weather was cooperating. We walked around the path at a local pond in the Westminster Community Park located in Westminster Maryland. Since we live in rural area our shopping is a 15-30 minute drive away. These are some photos I took while walking the path around the pond, we saw lots of Canada Geese, Mallards, Hybrid ducks and I think white Domestic Ducks.

The path is like a figure eight with a bridge going across the middle of the pond.

The Geese and ducks must be used to people coming to feed them.

The sky was mostly cloudy but we did see some blue sky poking out in places.

The were still some colorful Autumn leaves and trees.

We walked over this bridge but the path led to a community of houses so we just backtracked and finished walking around the pond.

Pretty blue sky.

Colorful leaves and the Canada Geese finding food on the grass.

I am thankful for my family.A thankful heart is a happy heart. I am thankful for all your visits and comments. Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. Thank you to the hosts of Skywatch Friday

Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Monday, November 19, 2018

November is rolling right along, Thanksgiving is this week on the 22nd. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I made my shopping list and I will be ready for some cooking. The house always smells good while cooking a turkey and all the side dishes. We usually have leftovers for days to come.

My blogging friends know me by now, I am addicted to birds and bird watching. I am happy to be able watch the birds right from the comfort of my home.

I bought a new finch feeder, it took a day or so for the American Goldfinches to find the new thistle feeder. Check out the finches reflection in the feeder. These photos were taken between 11/4 and 11/11/18. I am hoping for some new winter birds to show up in my yard, I will be updating with new post.

The days have been chilly to me, temps in the low 40's is not my kind of walking weather outdoors. When the wind blows the temps feel like it is in the 30's. So, I enjoy the warmth of the house and looking out my dining room window at the birds on my deck and at the feeders.

The winter Dark-eyed Juncos have arrived in my yard. This day I saw at least 3 of them on my deck.

The Carolina Wren was eating droppings from the suet feeder.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch is resting on top of the pergola.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker decided to try for some of the peanut suet balls, the squirrels left a tiny bit in the feeder.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch was looking for seed on the deck.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a regular visitor to the feeders and deck. My son put a new railing on for us, I wonder how long it will last after the birds peck at it.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!I have lots more from Edwin B. Forsythe NWR in New Jersey. It was very ducky, high numbers of Northern Pintails, Black Ducks and the Mute Swans. Many Egrets and Great Blue Herons, I was in birdie heaven. Snapping away and looking here and there, afraid to miss something. The one I missed was a Eurasion Wigeon that was being seen for a few days. I did see an American Wigeon.

I am not positive about the smaller of the two below, the larger is the Great Egret. But, the smaller wader looks to have greenish legs maybe a juvenile Little Blue Heron or is it a Snowy Egret?

More Mute Swans and various ducks.

The Northern Harrier was flying by and shaking up the ducks, every once in awhile the ducks would fly up and around and then land again. The phragmites an invasion plant and common weed seems to be all over the refuge, they have been cut in some places along the drive.

This photo looks better enlarged, please click on it for a better view.

A group of gulls and a cormorant were hanging out near where the water was being controlled.

A gathering of DC Cormorants. We like visiting this refuge twice, once when the tide is high and then again early morning the tide was low. The birds are attracted and to the open mud areas.

I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments !

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About me

I am married and have one son in his 20's. I live in Maryland, USA. Retired since Dec 2014 My hobbies are traveling, hiking, birding, taking photos and anything nature related.
Contact:eileen.inmd@gmail.com

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